The Official 1996, 1997, and 1998 Roster Project

[baumy300]

What's up boys, I'll try to make this short, sweet, and to the point.

If you have used any of the 1996, 1997 or 1998 roster sets on PS4, or even one from PS3, you are probably familiar with my work.

Seeing as how amazing this years game looks and plays, I have no choice but to grind away even longer to bring both you and I the roster set I have always dreamed of, but never had the true opportunity to achieve.

And to be honest, I was going to do these regardless and not share them. It would upset me when people would rip all the hours of work I put in and then try to re-up them as their own or take credit for them. I guess I get why musicians or other artists get so picky about copyrights haha.

Anyway, I realized after only finishing two teams now how truly amazing these are, and not just because I made them. It would be a crime against baseball to put in hundreds of hours on 17 and NOT share these with other fans, even if only one person appreciates them.

So without further ado, here's what you can expect from this set and when you can expect it!


What to expect from me:


Player likeness

The faces are all being carried over from 14, where they made their way to 15, 16 and ultimately 17 now. Some, like usual, are better than others, but all look more than acceptable. I have taken full advantage of the hairstyles and facial hair options and am doing my best to replicate each style for each specific year on every player. Also all pitchers have the correct pitch types and speeds thanks to the James/Neyer guide.

Player equipment

When I first made all of these there was no option for branded equipment, so this is the first year I'm putting max effort into getting these right. Back in the 90's however, there was a lot of Reebok. The purist in me won't put any Under Armor or New Balance in, even though they look sweet. So for example a player with Reebok cleats will have them replaced with either Mizuno or Nike and the color schemes adjusted accordingly. Same with gloves, bats, etc... My goal is to give every player the brand and color scheme shown in their picture. Same with sleeves, wristbands, glasses, eye black, etc.... It's very time consuming, but pays off so much in game.

Ratings

The ratings will stay the same, however I am going to be in a world of hurt seeing as how transferring the players over from 16 screws them up due to player morale/contract issues. Long story short, I have to take screenshots of every player off of 16 when they are edited on 17 and re-enter every attribute to give them the proper rating. So please don't expect these anytime soon.

Stadiums/Uniforms

Obviously I can only work with what's given, but with the new classic stadiums these are going to come to life like never before! In 1997 when that awesome Marlins team took it all, you know not only have the correct unis, but the proper park as well! Thank you SCEA, especially for the Metrodome.

When to expect these

Don't. Between exporting/importing, the ratings glitch, and the time it takes for each team (right now 2 hours per team) I can't honestly tell you. I can promise you however that no one wants these faster and more than me. I promise. But getting their hair, bodies, equipment, ratings, general busy work, etc... all perfect (IMO) it won't be quick or easy. I am doing 1996 first and then 97, and finally 98. As of posting Baltimore and Boston are done, minus the proper ratings. So basically I have a long, long, road ahead of me and it will likely take months for all of this.

25 man?

Yes. I designed these for 25 man, Season play, injuries off. Yes, I know there is an extra position player and one less pitcher on most teams.Yes, I know some guys only played 50-55 games in a certain season, but if none of their replacements played any more games in the respective year the starter is staying in. For example Matt Stairs in 1998. Don't complain. I am going for 100% accuracy but there may be a hiccup at some point in your opinion. You have to deal with it. Jose Cruz is with the Mariners in 97 and Toronto in 98. He could have been with either team realistically in 97 but I wanted him in Seattle and it's justified. He played approximately the same amount of games for each that season so it came down to preference. That's an example of how these work.

Bottom line

I am giving all I got to this set. I want it as close to perfect as I have the ability to make it. It may be my last roster hur-rah and it needs to count. I hope you guys can enjoy the fruits of my labor and relive some of the greatest years of baseball ever played.

Thanks for the support boys!

Enjoy some early screens:

Spoiler

Bonilla celebrating after a blast:





Eddie Murray calling for time. I used extra wide wristbands and long wrist tape to mimic the real life set up he had, and it came out looking great! Also gave him the necklace - Have to be 100%!




More Eddie eat, drink, and be Murray. Notice the overly sweet cleats? Him and Robbie A. had some pretty distinct, flashy shoes for that era




Canseco





Mo Vaughn





Alomar doing Alomar things






Mike Greenwell






The Iron Man himself

[sva91]

I'm a huge fan of that era. I don't think I'll have time to help with rosters, but I like what you said about getting equipment accurate. I'm big on that. Only suggestion.. Try to use the old school franklins for any player who wore Franklin gloves. Also, a lot of players wore that turtleneck undershirt. I made the 94 Astros and they looked great. I agree mizuno clippers are best way to go for Retros. New nike clippers are also a good option. And every player should have classic helmet. Idk why we can't edit legends. They even gave Griffey a ventilated helmet.

Super pumped for these. I'll try to help if I have time.

[baumy300]

Quote: Originally Posted by sva91

I'm a huge fan of that era. I don't think I'll have time to help with rosters, but I like what you said about getting equipment accurate. I'm big on that. Only suggestion.. Try to use the old school franklins for any player who wore Franklin gloves. Also, a lot of players wore that turtleneck undershirt. I made the 94 Astros and they looked great. I agree mizuno clippers are best way to go for Retros. New nike clippers are also a good option. And every player should have classic helmet. Idk why we can't edit legends. They even gave Griffey a ventilated helmet. Super pumped for these. I'll try to help if I have time.

Thanks bro.

Already ahead of you haha. Franklin is my go to glove, with only Nike and Rawlings as acceptable alternatives since those were brands really used back then. The Franklin classic is the most common glove if you want to keep it realistic.

Got the turtlenecks too, although I did take away Cordeo's (only one so far) because he only seemed to wear it in one pic during a photo shoot and not really in any games that season.

But I agree. Other than some hair touch ups, the equipment is the biggest thing that will make a difference and really stand out in gameplay. It's time consuming, but adds flavor to each individual player.

[baumy300]

Minor update, but just found a picture of Ramiro Mendoza from 96 and be damned if he wasn't sporting Adidas cleats!

This now gives me the go ahead to use them as fillers for some Reebok's. Until now I was using Mizuno for the other two teams as a Reebok fill in but I won't complain about another option.

[baumy300]

Hey, just thought I would give an update. If everything goes as planned, these should come out around Sunday. However, I am strongly debating entering all of the proper birthplaces for the players. It should help with immersion since they mention the players home states/countries and we all know Pedro Martinez didn't grow up in Nebraska haha. If there a delay in release it's probably because of entering these and making sure the numbers are all as close to accurate as possible. (Having 42's on your team can make it a cluster)

One more minor detail is that I'm including the Mets as a "shoe team." Shoe teams are clubs like Oakland or the old Blue Jays where the cleats were all in team color. I don't believe the Mets were a true shoe team, but I can find every single player from 96 wearing either black or blue shoes in live games half of the time. Rather than just mix every other player between blue/black shoes I'm just going full in (it is still realistic and justified) and making them all team color for the set. They will join Toronto, KC, Oakland, Texas, Philly, LA, and Montreal. Montreal is in the same scenario as the Mets here for anyone wondering.

[baumy300]

The 1996 set should be in the vault within a few hours.

I only have some touch-ups on San Fran and their equipment left.

Numbers seemed to have transferred over fine, however some may be off due to retired jerseys. Bernie Williams is #52 now for example, but any errors should be minor or inaccessible.

So far I have played at least a few innings with every team, some more than others, but everything looks pretty smooth. I'm thinking a lot of you nostalgic folk like me are going to enjoy these.

Remember, we have a lot of proper uniforms and stadiums now so don't be afraid to use them for the full effect. Will hop back in here once they're posted.

[Armor and Sword]

Whoop whoop!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[baumy300]

As of posting, the full 1996 set has dropped. It is in the vault as you read this.

The players still have the annoying rookie label next to the lineup card since they were initially created in 14 , but other than anything I haven't already mentioned that's about the only buzzkill left to acknowledge on this set. Everything else should be locked and loaded, ready to fire up and dig into.

Anyway enough of that noise, there was a lot of TLC put into this baby, so hopefully if brings you guys as much excitement as it does me. Enjoy.